Steel hull and method of building the same



Nov. 25, 1930;; G, HQLBRQQK 1,782,422

5STEEL HULL AND METHOD OF BUILDING THE SAME Filed March 8, 1928 2sheets-shew 1 VENT R BY GofiwoA/G 1% strain.

A TY ORNLY Nov. 25, 1930. a. G. HOLBROOK STEEL HULL AND METHOD OFBUILDING THE SAME F iled March 8,

1928 2 Sheets-Shea 2.

7 11v VENTOR Patented Nov. 25, 1930 UNITED STATES GORDON G. I-IOLBROOK,OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY STEEL HULL AND METHOD OF BUILDING THE SAMEApplication filed March 8,

The invention relates to hull construction and while not limited theretois particularly directed to an improved hull for barges or scows and tothe method of building such es sels. The invention provides a hullstructure made up of a multiplicity of flanged structural rolledsections united to one a11- other by fused metal seams.

Heretofore the building of steel vessels wherein the outer shell anddecks of the vessel are made of riveted members. an enormous amount oftime and expense is involved in drafting and engineering detail.Drawings must be carefully prepared detailing each individual piece.Molds of full size must be prepared with considerable care to insureproper laying out of the work in the fabricating shop. Work in thefabricating shop consisting of laying-out, punching and shaping materialmust be carefully and accurately done to insure proper alignment ofholes in erection. Though the work may be perfect when the fabricatedmaterial reaches the ship, extreme care and accuracy is required inerection to insure proper fit between the various members. A slighterror in any of the preceding operations may and frequently does resultin parts of the material being scrapped.

This results not only in the loss of material but also in the loss oftime and the waste of labor cost. The labor required in drafting,fabricating and erecting is supplied by highly skilled engineers andmechanics earning the highest wages paid to shipyard labor. Much of thislabor is expended primarily in the locating and punching of holes inmaterial which is later to accommodate rivets or bolts. In the completedvessels heretofore made using riveted joints, the rivets are a source ofdanger and expense. Damages resulting from collision, grounding, anddocking while not of themselves serious enough to cause rupture of thevessel plating will frequently, however. cause leakage around the rivetsrequiring that rivets be replaced, this work frequently requiringsending the vessel to a drydock at great expense.

My improved barge and method of building the same eliminates rivetingwith its at- 1928. Serial No. 260,029.

tendant expense and overcomes many of the objections to the priorpractice briefly referred to above. I

The invention will be fully understood from the following specificationwhen read in connection with the accompanying drawings and will bedefined with particularity in the appended claims. In the drawings Fig.1 is a side elevation on a small scale diagrammatically illustrating ascow built in accordance with my improved method and embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse half-section on an enlarged scale taken on line3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating a preliminary step in building ahull in accordance with my novel method;

Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating a further step in the method;

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a further step in the method;

Fig. 7 is a detail showing the double welded seam uniting the adjacentsections of which the hull is composed;

Fig. 8 is a detail showing the double seam connections between thebottom and side portions of the hull embodying my invention;

Fig. 9 is a detail showing a modified form of joint between the bottomside of the hull;

Fig. 10 illustrates a further modification of Fig 9;

Fig. 11 is a view showing a step in the method and showing thereinforcing plate introduced at knuckle or corner formed by bending thechannels.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the invention is illustrated inFigs. 1 to 8 inclusive as embodied in a barge or scow in cluding abottom indicated as a whole by numeral lOwhich is made up of amultiplicity of rolled steel channel sections 12 united to one anotherby seams to be hereinafter described; sides 14 made up of similar rolledsteel sections 16 united by similar seams and 9 a deck 18 formed of amultiplicity of similarly united channels 20.

At suitable intervals along the sides of the hull, side frames 22 arewelded to the sections 16. The side frames 22 are welded at the top asindicated, for example, at 24 to deck beams 26 and at the bottom asindicated at 28 to bottom frames 30. At suit able points additionalbracing members 32 and 34 are secured as shown.

Extending longitudinally along the center line of the hull is a keelsonplate 36 preferably seated in a groove between two adjacent sections 12and welded as hereinafter described. A longitudinally extending uppergirder plate 38 is also provided and this is connected at intervals withthe keelson plate 86 by means of bracing members 40. Longitudinallyextending angles 41 are welded to vertical plates also to ends of pieces26 and 30.

According to my improved method of building the hull, I first lay thebottom channels 12 alongside one another on suitable skids, the toes 12of the channel flanges 12 extending upwardly as in Fig. 4. Between theflanges 12 of the adjacent channels, I insert flat bars 42, these beingof less depth than the depth of the flanges 12". Suitable cleats notshown are provided to hold the bars 42 above the lower surface 44 of thechannel sections 12. Thus, in the preliminary step of building the hull,open ended slots 46 and 48 are left between the edges of the bars 42 andthe outermost edges of the channel flanges 12 The adjacent channels 12are welded or united to one another,- also to the interposed flat bars42 by means of fused metal seams 50 along the toes of the flanges 12"and by similar fused metal seams 52 along the backs of the flanges. Thewelded seams 50-52 may be made either by oxyacetylene or by an electricwelding machine, or by electric welding, hand operated. In practice,electric welding is preferred. In electrically welding the adjacentsections, the welding machine such as indicated diagrammatically at 54is moved longitudinally along the work, this machine being arrangedeither for fusing a welding wire 56 within the groove 46, thus forming ahomogeneous bond between the two adjacent flanges 12 and the interposedflat spacer bar 42 or by the use of a metallic electrode. After asuitable number of channels 12 have been welded along the toes of theflanges 12*, the work will be inverted as indicated in Fig. 6 and thewelding machine will be moved along the work so as to form the fusedmetal seams 52. When working on this comparatively flat surface, thegrooves 48 between adjacent channels 12 are utilized to guide thewelding machine in a straight line. For example, the machine may beprovided with a supporting wheel 58 having a flange 60 which rides inthe groove 48 adjacent to the similar groove in which the electrode 62of the machine is operated to form the welded seam. The opposite Wheel64 of the machine may be of simple cylindrical form merely riding on theflat backs of the channels 12.

In laying out the channel sections 12 for the bottom of the hull, enoughlength of channel is placed down to form the ends of the hull. Asindicated in Fig. 11, the flanges 12 are coped out to permit the extremeends 68 of the channels to be bent upwardly as indicated in dottedlines. An angle plate 69 is substituted for the bar 42 at the corner toreinforce the structure as shown. The several channels thus bentcollectively form one end 70 (Fig. 1) of the hull. Similarly, the otherends of the channels are bent upwardly to form the rear inclined end ofthe scow as indicated at 72- (Fig. 1). The sides of the hull are laidout on a flat surface in a manner similar to that above described forforming of the bottom and several channel sections 16 are united to oneanother by fused metal joints similar to those indicated at 50 and 52 inFig. 7. On completion of the welding of the multiplicity of sectionswhich go to make up the sides, each side unit is welded to the bottomunit by a double welded seam as indicated at 74 and 76. As shown in Fig.8, the outermost section is in the form of a channel having one of itsflanges cut off. Or, if desired, a rolled angle section may be used. Themember 78 may be either considered as such an angle section or a channelwith one flange cut away. Fig. 9 illustrates a slight modification ofFig. 8 in which the outer most section 7 8 is secured to the lowestchannel 16 of the side unit by means of a curved member 80, this memberbeing united to the member 7 8 by means of the welded seams 82 and 84and similarly united to the channel 16 by the welded seams 86 and 88.The member 80 is adapted to be formed either of the bent plate or asection of pipe.

Fig. 10 shows a slight modification of Fig. 9 in which the curved member80 overlaps the back or web of the outermost channel 12 of the bottomunit, the same being secured by welded oints 9092.

After the several bottom channels have been united to form the bottomunit, the inside transverse members 30 and uprights 22 may be erectedand subsequently the side units may be united to the bottom unit by theformation of joints shown, for example, in Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive.However, I am not limited to any sequence of steps as regards theerecting or welding of the hull sections or other members as variationswill be made as deemed expedient by those skilled in the art.

The deck channels 18 may be welded in place in their proper position.When the assembly of the sides and bottom units has been completed, thekeelson plate 36 will be put in place and welded. The keelson plate isconveniently seated in one of the grooves 46 between the adjacentflanges of the pair of centrally disposed channels.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the invention is an improvementover prior practice. The cost of construct-ion of a barge hull by mymethod is considerably less than any other method of which I am aware.All riveted joints are eliminated thus saving much drafting room laborand eliminating much shop fabrication work. The channels or otherstructural sections forming the bottom sides, deck or bulkheads can beordered from the steel mills at random lengths without any marking, thusensuring the lowest possible price for the steel. These channels may bedelivered direct to the shipbuilding skids without sorting or any shopWork whatever.

In view of the tolerance allowed by the manufacturers of rolled steelsections, there are appreciable variations in the dimensions of sectionsof a given listed size. For example, channels listed as having a depthof say 12 inches may vary in size from a quarter of an inch more than 12inches to a size slightly less than 12 inches. Also in practice theangle w ich the back of the Web of the channel makes with the top of theflange may vary from an angle of slightly less than 90 degrees to anangle of slightly more than 90 degrees. These variations due to milltolerances and wear on the rolls used in producing roll sections giverise to considerable trouble and expense in the assembly andconstruction of vessels having bolted or riveted connections as in theprior constructions. In my improved construction the use of the flatspacer bars 42 permits of readily compensating for variations in thewidth of the rolled channel sections, it only being necessary to useflat bars of suflicient thickness to secure the desired overall width.The use of spacer bars between the channel flanges which are of lessdepth than the depth of the channel flanges provides grooves for thereception of the welding wire or electrode and greatly expedites thewelding operation whether the joint be made by an electric weld or by anoxyacetylene weld. Moreover, as above pointed out, the spacer bar servesto define a groove between adjacent sections which groove serves toguide the welding machine without special attention on the part of theworkman. The welded method of hull construction eliminates a great dealof drafting room and engineering work and eliminates all shopfabrication. With the exception of the welders, the labor on theshipways need only be semi-skilled or unskilled.

The material used in the hull construction is not weakened by rivetholes and the double steel weld described provides double insuranceagainst leakage.

" In case of the hull being damaged by grounding or collision, thestructure may be distort-ed but it is not so nearly liable to rupture asin the case of hulls using riveted or similarly mechanically coupled orbolt ed joints. The weld-ed seam being of the same material as the otherparts of the barge and being homogeneous with such parts, the seam willfollow the distortion in almost all cases without rupture. Inexceptional cases, such as collision or the like where rupture actuallyoccurs, it is a comparatively simple matter to remove the damaged partby fusing the seams and replacing the same with new material, thereplaced part being readily welded in place.

While I have described quite specifically the embodiment of theinvention illustrated, and certain steps in the method of building thehull, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto since Variousmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is z 1. The method of building a vessel which comprisesplacing a multiplicity of stock size flanged sections of non-uniformwidth alongside one another with spacing members between them ofdifferent thicknesses to compensate for the lack of uniformity of saidsections and forming fused metal seams to close the spaces between theadjacent sections.

2. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of flanged sections alongside one another with spacingmembers between all of them and forming fused metal seams to close thespaces between all the adjacent sections and thus form a water-tightbottom portion of the vessel, bending the bottom portion at an angle toform an integral end of the vessel, placing other flanged sectionsalongside one another with spacing members between them, uniting thelatter sections by fused metal seams to form side portions of the vesseland joining each side portion to said bottom por tion by a Welded seam.

3. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of rolled channel sections alongside one another inseparate groups, one group being adapted to form the bottom and ends ofthe vessel and other groups being adapted to form the sides thereof,inserting spacer; bars between all of the adjacent channels of eachgroup, welding the adjacent sections and the corresponding interposedspacer bars to one another to form water-tight seams, bending thesections of the bottom group to form the ends of the vessel and joiningthe united side groups to the thus formed bottom group by welded seams.

4. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of stock size rolled channel sections alongside oneanother,

with a compensating spacer bar between each and every one of themadapted to leave a groove for the reception of a welding wire electrodeand guiding a welding machine in one of said grooves while fusing such awire electrode with the spacer bar and the adjacent channel sections.

5. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of rolled channel sections alongside one another, each witha spacer bar between them adapted to leave a groove for the reception ofa welding wire electrode and fusing such a wire with the spacer bar andthe adjacent channel sections, inverting the channel sections and fusinganother wire to the opposite edge of said spacer bar and the adjacentsections during the welding operations the welding machine being guidedby engagement with the work.

6. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of rolled channel sections alongside one another, each witha spacer bar between them adapted to leave a groove for the reception ofa welding wire, moving a welding machine along the work to fuse suchwire with the spacer bar and the adjacent channel sections, and guidingthe welding machine during the welding operation by engagement with agroove between certain of said sections.

7. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of rolled channel sections alongside one another, each witha spacer bar between them adapted to leave a groove, guiding a weldingmachine along the work by coaction with one of the grooves and at thesame time welding one of said bars to the adjacent channel sections.

8. The method of building a vessel which comprises placing amultiplicity of stock sized rolled flange sections alongside one anotherwith a spacer bar between them adapted to leave a groove, guiding awelding machine by coaction with said groove and uniting adjacentflanges with said spacer bar while moving said machine along work.

9. A vessel having a hull comprising a multiplicity of run-of-the-millrolled steel sections having slightly varying widths, said sectionsbeing arranged alongside one another with spacing members of varyingthicknesses between them and fused metal seams closing the spacesbetween said sections.

10. A vessel having a hull comprising a multiplicity of solid rolledflanged structural sections arranged alongside one another with flatbars between the sections, each bar being of less depth than the depthof the flanges of said sections and a welded seam uniting each bar tothe two adjacent flanges and closing the space between them.

11. A vessel having a hull comprising a multiplicity of longitudinallyextending stock size rolled steel channels of slightly varying widthsarranged alongside one another with relatively thin metal bars ofvarying thicknesses between the flanges of adjacent sections and weldedseams uniting said bars to the adjacent channels.

12. A vessel having a hull comprising a multiplicity of run-of-the-millflanged structural sections of non-uniform width eX- tendinglongitudinally thereof and arranged alongside one another, bars of lessdepth than the depth of the flanges of said sections located betweensaid flanges, and Welded seams the major portions of which lie withinthe extremities of said flanges, said seams uniting the opposite edgesof each bar to the adjacent sections and forming longitudinallyextending double watertight seals between each adjacent pair of saidlongitudinally extending sections.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

GORDON Gr. HOLBROOK.

